Furious got a second season before its finale aired, and it comes from the creator of New Girl
Hulu has a smash on its hands, with a streaming chart-topper already being compared to Dexter.
We are clearly in another peak period for serial killer telly, with familiar faces returning and new contenders nipping at their heels. Dexter just won’t stay buried, thanks to that resurrection (literally and in title), while over on the more serious end of things, Mindhunter fans are still gnawing at the wires, waiting for David Fincher to make up his mind about a comeback. If you’re looking for something that’s neither as soapy as Dexter nor as icy as Mindhunter, Hulu and Disney+ have quietly dropped a surprise hit that lands bang in the middle: it’s called Furious, and it’s absolutely blown up this summer. The odd part? It’s from the person who gave us New Girl.
‘Furious’ smashed out 43 million hours viewed worldwide after launch, enough for Hulu and Disney+ to order a second series before the finale even aired.
Streaming’s Summer Dark Horse
This is not some splashy Netflix drop with months of hype. Furious debuted on 27 July in the US (Hulu) and everywhere else on Disney+, with Emmy Rossum leading and Elizabeth Meriwether (yes, she of the sitcom world) running the show. Eight episodes, good old-fashioned weekly rollout. But after a quiet start, it topped global streaming charts across both platforms according to FlixPatrol—not a list you expect a mid-budget crime drama to dominate. Even stranger, it managed to hold that position in wildly different markets, and after the 31 August finale, it still clung to Hulu’s number one spot in America. That sort of word-of-mouth spread doesn’t just happen for any new show anymore.
How big? Variety put the worldwide figure at 43 million viewing hours out of the gate. By episode five, executives couldn’t get the ink dry quickly enough: renewed for Season 2 before the final episode hit. Not bad for something that started under the radar. Critics have been unusually united, too; a 98% Tomatometer (it hung briefly at 100%), with a not-too-shabby 89% Popcornmeter for audience score.
The Series: Killer Women, Messy Morals
The premise feels familiar but works: Rossum plays Alice Black, a former homicide cop turned FBI agent, chasing after Catherine Grace (Lola Petticrew), a smart, young female serial killer. Her victims? Wealthy, abusive men—so even the motive lands squarely in topical, messy territory. On paper, it’s loosely cribbed from Bob Rafelson’s 1987 film Black Widow. In practice, that’s only a jumping-off point; the show is really about psychological tug-of-war between the two leads, which is a good deal juicier than most recent attempts to chase Mindhunter’s ghost.
Part of what makes Furious contagious is it’s not really trying to be either Dexter or Mindhunter. Instead, it doubles down on the anxiety and unpredictability that happens when the two leads are chasing, catching, or circling each other—rarely have we seen a mainstream procedural tilt so completely on the chemistry (combustion might be a better word) between two complicated women. If you’re wondering when you can binge, the answer’s now: all eight episodes are out everywhere. Season 2 is locked, and—assuming timelines and strikes don’t throw things off—a late 2027 return is likely.
One last thing worth flagging: Elizabeth Meriwether has been on a real tear since ditching straightforward comedy. After The Dropout and Dying for Sex, she’s now delivered yet another series that honestly deserves far more noise than it’s had from the usual prestige-TV crowd. Let’s see if they catch up.
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